Elizabeth- There are a couple of things that you can do for this mom: First, suck training can be very helpful to reinforce "tongue down and forward". The most effective way to accomplish this for your baby is in the "charm hold": lay baby across your forearm with the face hanging out of your hand, prone position. With your opposite hand, insert a clean, gloved index finger pad side up into the baby's mouth, allowing baby to draw your finger back to the juncture of the hard and soft palate and suck. When you feel that humping, you can apply a very light, gentle pressure downwards and then drawing slightly forwards in rhythm with the suck, returning in a little circle back to where you started. The face down position utilizes gravity to help draw the tongue forward, and the light pressure also reinforces the proper position. Do this between feeds for a several minutes, and just right before feeds for a couple of minutes. If mom can stand to breastfeed, try a position that has baby in a prone position, such as with mom supine/baby prone on top of her to again utilize gravity to bring the tongue forward. If mom is too sore and needs a break, I would definitely finger feed this baby, in arms, doing that gentle little circle to encourage the tongue down and forward during the feeding experience. Most of the time the baby will "loosen" up in a few days or a week or so, and breastfeeding becomes much easier! For reference, check out the article "Training Neonates to Suck Correctly" by Ellen Shell and Chele Marmet. -Lisa Marasco, LLLL, IBCLC [log in to unmask]